Australia's Lleyton Hewitt finally prevailed in a severely rain-affected third-round match against Argentine No.22 seed Guillermo Canas.

Hewitt, the No.16 seed, took two hours and 42 minutes to beat Canas 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a match moved from its original Saturday time slot and then played over two days because of appalling weather which has plagued the tournament.

Play was called off on Monday with Hewitt down a break point but leading 3-1 in the third set.

He was broken when the players returned on Tuesday, but broke back immediately with an excellent volley at the end of a long rally for a 4-2 lead.

Rain again forced the players off the court with Hewitt serving at 30-40 in the following game and the re-start followed a similar pattern, with the Australian broken then breaking back after a 23-stroke rally.

He claimed a two-set lead in the next game with an unreturnable serve.

Play was again halted at 2-2 in the fourth set with Canas up 40-15.

The Argentine held but, apparently eager to have the match over with, Hewitt broke his opponent two games later and then held serve to love for a 5-3 lead.

Serving for victory, Hewitt converted his second match point.

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